Business Practices Among the Chinese

Most of the time, when we hear the word “business” we immediately associate it with the Chinese. We are used to the thought that wherever the Chinese people are, they will always find a way to put up some kind of business and it seems that they are fully aware on what they have to do in order to generate money. No one else does business like the Chinese. We cannot help thinking that there must be some things the Chinese are doing differently that make them and their businesses profitable.

The Chinese do not really spend time thinking about the glamorous side of business. As we can all notice, most stories of successful businessmen start from something small. They do not jump right away to the big businesses because they know that money cannot be attained instantly. Generally, you create business just to make money but with the Chinese, this is also their main goal but they think of the more practical side of business. They start from nothing and then they think of ways they can expand their businesses until they have branched out and think of some other industry to penetrate.

In China, there is a very competitive market. Since most Chinese people are very much inclined with business, they have created such a very competitive environment. This is one of the reasons the Chinese are also highly competitive. With this type of environment, you have to find the right connections. You have to find the right people to associate with in order to succeed in business. It is important to build the right relationships.

As with any business matter, it is especially important for the Chinese business owners to know whom they are selling to. They have to know and understand exactly what the people want from them so that they know what and how to deliver. As mentioned earlier, they are not exactly looking for glamorous businesses, instead they look for the things the customers actually need and use. For example, most businesses such as hardware stores, grocery stores, supermarkets, and auto parts are the businesses that are mostly associated with the Chinese. The items that we can find there in those stores are necessities for people. They try to understand what their customers need and want and with that, they think of something that would cater to their customers’ wants and needs.

Nowadays, technology plays a very vital role when it comes to business. With countries like China, the e-commerce was not exactly very big but now that the rate of people who are using the internet is getting higher and internet penetration in China increased to fifty percent (50%), it is possible that most people now are reliant on the internet for information about businesses. Despite the growth and improvement of technology, it is still important for the Chinese to meet people face-to-face because that is when they know if they would actually trust a person or not. Online, it is very easy to make up details about something or someone. With the internet, you can create confusion by creating false information for everyone to see. For example, the issue about the Rape of Nanking, which happened a very long time ago, but then recently, a certain Japanese businessman tried to deny that it actually happened. It created confusion and might even have infuriated some people who knew exactly what happened then. This is why it is important to really know the people we associate with, and through meeting them face-to-face, we can actually know if they are trustworthy.

The Chinese are not at all different and they do not really do things differently when it comes to business. They really just know how to be practical and they are very careful with choosing the people they do business with. They are cautious and that is very important when creating and managing a business and that just might help you succeed.